A top military official in the US has apologized for his tole in President Trump's walk across Lafayette Square for a photo opportunity that saw the police force back Black Lives Matter protestors.

The protestors were removed from the area using tear gas and rubber bullets after taking to the streets to protest the systemic injustices carried out against black people, not least seen by the recent deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor.

Watch General Mark A. Milley's apology below:

[[youtubewidget||https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7AKmmApwi0M]]

"I should not have been there," General Mark A. Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in a prerecorded video commencement address to National Defense University cited by the New York Times. "My presence in that moment and in that environment created a perception of the military involved in domestic politics."

General Mark A. Milley. [[imagecaption|| Credit: PA Images]]

This is General Milley's first remarks since the incident, which saw President Trump pose with a Bible outside St. John's Church.

President Trump holding a Bible. [[imagecaption|| Credit: PA Images]]

Since then, per the New York Times, the president has spent the majority of his time in the White House, where he has been taking increasingly tough measures against protestors who are demanding change in almost every major US City.

"As a commissioned uniformed officer, it was a mistake that I have learned from," General Milley said, adding that he was upset by "the senseless and brutal killing of George Floyd".

The general also took the opportunity to say that when the photo op took place, he thought that he was accompanying the president to National Guard troops and other law enforcement personnel outside Lafayette Square.

A protestor at Lafayette Square. [[imagecaption|| Credit: PA Images]]

As well as a call for justice, these ongoing protests are also demanding an end to police brutality and the racism that is so deeply entrenched in America and the western world.

The message is simple: Black lives matter.

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Top US military official apologizes for role in Trump photo op